Solving Right Triangles

Trigonometric Ratios
hyp
opp

adj
The trigonometric functions are:
sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, and cosecant.
opp
sin =
cos =adj
tan =opp
hyp
hyp
adj
hyp
csc =
opp

hyp
sec =
adj

cot =adj
opp

S OH C AH T OA

SOA CAH TOA

SOA CAH
TOA

1.
h
14 cm

6 cm
a

2. Find angle x
3 cma

x
o 8 cm

3.
10 cm

12 cm
y

Finding a side from a triangle

4.
7 cm

30o

5.
50o
4 cm

6.
k

12 cm
25o

.7
x

30o
5 cm

Angle of Elevation
Is the angle between the line of sight and the
horizontal when an observer looks upward.

Angle of Depression
Is the angle between the line of sight when an
observer looks downward, and the horizontal.

Applications Involving Right Triangles

1. A surveyor is standing 115 feet from the base of the
Washington Monument. The surveyor measures the angle
of elevation to the top of the monument as 78.3.
How tall is the Washington Monument?
Solution:

where x = 115 and y is the

height of the monument. So,
the height of the Washington
Monument is
y = x tan 78.3
115(4.82882) 555
feet.

2. A surveyor is
standing 50 ft from
the base of a large
tree. The surveyor
measures the angle
of elevation to the
top of the tree as
71.50. How tall is
the tree.

100 ft

3. From the top of a

lookout tower, the
angle of depression
of a small fire is 70
20. If the height of
the tower is 100 ft,
how far from the
base of the tower is
the fire?

702
0

4. A person is 200 yds from a river.

Rather than walking directly to the
river, the person walks 400 yds along
a straight path to the rivers edge.
Find the acute angle between this
path and the rivers edge.
.

5. The length of the shadow of a tree 22.02

m tall is 28.34 m. Find the angle of
elevation of the sun.
Draw a sketch.
22.02 m
B

28.34 m

18

The angle of elevation of the

sun is 37.85.

6.
At the circus, a person in the audience at ground level
watches the high-wire routine. A 5-foot-6-inches tall
acrobat is standing on a platform that is 25 feet off the
ground. How far is the audience member from the base
of the platform, if the angle of elevation from the
audience members line of sight to the top of the acrobat
30.5
is 27
tan 27 =
opposite
d

5.5 ft

30.5
(d)tan 27 =
d

(d)

25 ft30.5

(d)tan 27 = 30.5

27
d

opp
tan =
adj

(d)tan 27
=
tan 27
adjacent

30.5
tan 27
30.5
d = tan 27
d = 59.8

7.

A wheelchair ramp is 3 meters long and inclines

at 6. Find the height of the ramp to the nearest
tenth centimeter.
What trig function uses opposit
and hypotenuse
hypotenuse
3 m.
h
6

opposite

opp
sin =
hyp
h
sin 6 =
3
h
(3)sin 6 3
=
(3)sin 6 = h

31.4 cm =.3135 m = h

(3)

8.
After flying at an altitude of 500 meters, a helicopter
starts to descend when its ground distance from the
landing pad is 11 kilometers. What is the angle of
depression for this part of the flight?
500

tan x =
11000
x

tan-1

500
meters

500

(11000 ) = x

2.602562205 = x
x
11 km = 11,000 meters

2.6 = x

9. Rachel standing at point B

observes that the angle of
elevation to the top of the tree is
50030. Bianca standing at A,
30 ft. from where Rachel is
standing observes that the
angle of elevation to the top of
the same tree is 40028. Find
the distance between point B
and the base of the tree.

10. Hazel standing 150cm from a

mirror observes that the angle of
depression from her eyes to the
bottom of the mirror is 150 ,while the
angle of elevation to the top of the
mirror is 140. Find the vertical
dimension of the mirror.